Norwegian Skrei Cod and Beets in Lemon Cream Sauce

Enjoy the rustic flavor of this satisfying baked Skrei dish that features tender beets, roasted fingerling potatoes, carrots and fresh dill, finished in a lemon-butter cream sauce. By Kalle Bergman

Skrei, a sustainable and seasonal species of cod, lives most of its life in the cold and clean waters of the Barents Sea, north of Norway and Russia. But every year, from January to April, hundreds of thousands of Skrei migrate back to their spawning grounds around the coasts of Norway – making the lean and tasty meat of the Skrei available to gourmets around the world.

The Skrei fishing industry is one of the most highly regulated and enforced in the world, making the species more abundant than it has been in the last 50 years in the Barents Sea. And during the past few years, this amazing seasonal fish has become available in select gourmet restaurants around the US.

Enjoy the rustic flavor of this satisfying baked Skrei dish that features tender beets, roasted fingerling potatoes, carrots and fresh dill, finished in a lemon-butter cream sauce. If you cannot get Skrei where you live, normal cod will obviously work well as a substitute.

Season each Skrei fillet with 1 tsp salt and refrigerate overnight. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil and let Skrei simmer about 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Do not let boil.

Peel beets and cut into ½-inch cubes. Boil in lightly salted water until tender. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine potatoes and carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until tender, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, heat cream and reduce by half. Whisk in butter, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Kalle Bergman is a food writer and media entrepreneur who is the founder of Honest Cooking. As a food writer, his writing has been regularly featured in publications like Gourmet, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post and Serious Eats. He is obsessed with simple food, more often than not from his native Scandinavia.